Author: newtonpens

Buffalo Horn

So a customer asked me a few months ago if I would be willing to work with buffalo horn for a pen he wanted.  I had never worked with it – and instead of just buying some and playing around with it – I asked around and did some reading – and everything I found said it cracked horribly after being turned.  Maybe not for a few days, but usually, and more often then not, it would crack.

Then I read about a pen on fountainpennetwork, made by Hakase Pen Company in Japan, from water buffalo horn.  Beautiful!  So instead of asking others who have WORKED with it, I started asking folks who own pens made from it.  So far, even after years, no cracks, but that’s with fairly thick barrel and cap walls and with an ebonite section.  Sounds good.  So I ordered some and it came in today.  I had to go play with it.

After shopping around on the internet with my wife for new bathroom vanities – oh man that was uh, fun 😉 – I broke away and got into the shop for a few minutes.  I made only the barrel, the section is from a different pen, for the photos. It still needs a good buffing, maybe go over the back of the barrel again, but WOW this was great to work with.  It turned almost as nicely as some ebonites I’ve worked with.  I could feel the vein, or grain, whatever you want to call it, so it had a bit of a bump or rough spot, but it still turned really nicely.  It was a bit stiff taking the internal threads, but putting the outside threads on was painless.

I wish the pictures were better – but it’s late and I’m tired.  Check it out.  😉

Oh, and the fuzzy stuff on the threads is tiny bits of paper towel after wiping water off.

2012 in review – and ready for the tax man…

Well, I hope I’m ready for the tax man.

I spent very nearly the entire day going through every receipt, invoice, bank statement, and expense note I could find, adding up all my expenses and income from the year.  I’m very glad to say that I made a little profit – I can say it was very nice being able to make auto repairs and pay for daycare.  😉

I made right at 170 pens in 2012.  Not too bad.  I can’t wait to see how many I make in 2013.  Here’s to the new year and I hope to keep growing!  😀

Thanks everybody.

Drawing!

Update: 1 Jan 2013
And the winner was #3!  🙂  Thanks everybody!

I think it’s time for another .

This time things will be a bit different.  I don’t have any pens made up to offer, so this one will be a full custom .  Any acrylic or ebonite I have in stock, c/c, button, or bulb filler.
Any nib size or grind.  Clip or clipless.

The pen will be made as soon as the is over so no waiting in line.

 

So if all that sounds good then you can buy as many as you want payable through paypal to [email protected] and I’ll add a number to the bottom of this post so everybody can see where we’re at with it.  I’ll pick a winner on New Year’s Eve, we’ll talk about specifics, shape, size, and so on, and I’ll get it made and out in the mail as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I’ll get back with you asap.

Thanks.
Shawn

35 so far.  🙂

Big News

After careful consideration there will be a slight increase in my pen prices for 2013. Prices for each size will go up by $25 each. On the bright side, I am excited to introduce a new slim line of pens!  The new slim line will be 11mm thick at the barrel threads. For comparison, a #2 pencil is about 7mm thick and a Sharpie marker is about 11mm.

This new pen will be $125 with standard acrylics and steel nib. Upgrades including the use of ebonite or other materials, custom filling system, or gold nib, will be priced accordingly.

Pricing on my existing line of pens will be:
Small $150 – Medium $175 – Large $200 – Oversize $225

Shipping will stay the same. Optional international registered with tracking will be an additional $12. Insurance is optional and will be included at cost if requested.

New pricing starts January 1st, 2013, so you place your order now for current prices!

Two pens! Two winners!

UPDATE:  The  winners are 185 (180) and 41 (38).  Congrats!!  😀

This time I think I’m going to do something a little different.Instead of having just one winner, we’ll have two.  🙂

The cumberland button filler is gone, so that means the bulb filler and celluloid pen have to go.  🙂

Rules are the same as last time.  You pick a number by sending $5 to [email protected] via paypal, and be sure to tell me what number you’re picking!  Each time I receive a number I’ll update the list at the bottom of this post so you can see what numbers have already been picked.  If I can’t update it quick enough and you pick the same as somebody else, I’ll send you a note telling you to pick another.  🙂
Easy.

If you won last time you may not enter, but if you won before you may go ahead and try again.  🙂  So far you’ve all raised $636 for the scholarship!  Thanks.  This is going to mean a lot to one lucky student.  If we get enough money raised it may mean a lot to two or three lucky students!  🙂

The bulb filler and tortoise celluloid pen.  Remember – any nib tip size you want, with any grind – and your choice of silver or gold tone nib and clip.

Pick from 1-200.  I’ll use one of those random number generators out there on the interweb to pick a number, and whoever picks the closest number without going over will win the pen!  This time we’ll have two winners.  If you pick more than one number and they both get picked, I’m going to pick the next closest number under that so one person won’t be winning both pens.

Where does the money go?  Into a brand new bank account I set up just for this purpose.  At the end of the school year I’ll gather that up and present it to one or more students.

We’ll let this one run until December 5th, two weeks from tonight.  I’ll announce the winner around 9pm Central US time.

Numbers picked so far.
3-4-7-11-13-14-17-23-25-26-27-33-38-42-49-51-53-54-63-68-70-75-77-81-89-95
102-111-112-113-114-118-119-127-134-140-153-158-161-168-174-178-180-199